Thomas B. Kin Chong was born on 24 May 1938, in Edmonton, Alberta Canada, of Scots-Irish and French (mother) and Chinese (father) ancestry. Tommy is primarily a comedian, and came into prominence in 1970s by forming a duo with another comedian, Cheech Marin, calling themselves Cheech and Chong. They mostly performed during the 1970s and 1980s in films directed and produced by both of them, which emphasized the hippie era including drugs, especially cannabis. The albums they released were also based on the same topics. This comedy duo added a solid sum to Tommy Chong’s net worth.
So just how rich is Tommy Chong? Sources estimate that the popular Tommy has a net worth of $8 million, accumulated during his popular partnership with Cheech Marin, but also from his acting a several films, TV series and shows.
Tommy Chong Net Worth $8 Million
Tommy Chong’s mother, Lorna Jean (née Gilchrist) was a waitress, and his father was Stanley a truck driver who immigrated to Canada from China in the 1920s. The family moved to Calgary, but Tommy dropped-out of school at 16, as he was much more interested in playing the guitar, and in fact became a guitarist in the Canadian group “The Shades”. With another member, Bobby Taylor, Chong established a Vancouver night club in 1963. The band changed their name many times: they were “Little Daddy & The Bachelors”, “Four Niggers and a Chink”, until finally the group members found a compromise – “Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers”. Their debut single was “Does Your Mamma Know About Me” co-composed by Chong. In collaboration with Gordy Records, the band released several albums. Soon after, the band split up simply due to business reasons. The incomes increased Tommy Chong’s net worth though.
Tommy certainly managed to enlarge the total amount of his net worth with the successful activity of “Cheech & Chong” though, as they released several albums throughout their professional existence of more than 10 years, and two of them were nominated for Best Comedy Album Grammy Awards. “Cheech & Chong” split up in 1985 because of incompatible ideas in performing.
It is claimed that after this breaking up, Tommy had a difficult period in his life and, Tommy Chong’s net worth stopped growing. His recovery was marked by an American TV period sitcom “That `70s Show” released in 1998, wherein he appeared as the hippie Leo. Tommy also acted in “Dharma & Greg”, another popular TV serial of 1999s. The artist has performed in many movies too, including “Half Baked” (1998), “The Wash” (2001), and “Best Buds” (2003).
Tommy Chong added some revenues to his net worth by being a voice-over artist in “Scarface: “The Lion King” (1994), “The World Is Yours” (2006), and “Code Monkeys” (2008), among others.
The year of 2005 was important for Tommy since “a/k/a/ Tommy Chong”, a documentary about his personal life, appeared in the Toronto International Film Festival. In 2008, “Cheech & Chong” reunited temporarily for two tours: “The Felimony Tour” and “Light Up America and Canada”.
As can be seen, Tommy Chong has had a very busy and varied career in the entertainment industry, which is not over yet, despite ‘greatly exaggerated’ reports of his death from cancer recently, so his net worth may grow further!
Tommy Chong has two daughters with his first wife Maxine Sneed: married 1960-70. In 1975 Tommy married Shelby Fiddis, and they have welcomed three children as well as adopting one more. Some of his children are also realizing themselves in acting.
For the record, Tommy Chong was jailed for 9 months in 2000s for drug trafficking. Nowadays, however, he is also known as a strong supporter for the legalization of marijuana.
